S.B. Police quickly nab robbery suspect

July 20, 2008|STAFF REPORTS

SOUTH BEND -- A helpful witness and an indignant homeowner helped police apprehend an armed robber Friday. About 6:30 p.m. the suspect entered Family Dollar, 234 S. Chapin St., pulled out a handgun and told the cashier to open her drawer, police said. He grabbed a sack of money and ran south along Chapin, then west on Washington Street. The suspect walked into a home in the 1100 block of West Jefferson Boulevard. The home's front door was closed but unlocked, and its occupant was sitting on a living room couch. The suspect, sweating and out of breath, told the man that some people were chasing him, and asked if he could use the telephone, the man told police. The homeowner, age 32, refused and "escorted" the suspect out his back door. Outside the rear of the home, about 20 minutes after the robbery, police arrested the suspect, having received a cell phone call from a witness who had followed the suspect from the Family Dollar store, police said.